LIFE

How Noosa founder creates unusual flavors

Jacob Laxen
jlaxen@coloradoan.com
Noosa Yoghurt founder Koel Thomae demonstrates how she experiments with new flavors in her home kitchen in Boulder on Thursday, March 2, 2017.

Creating the next yogurt flavor remains a never-ending quest for Koel Thomae.

The Noosa Yoghurt co-founder has helped develop several of the company's flavors over the past seven years — from plain to strawberry rhubarb to Mexican chocolate to blackberry serrano.

Thomae has stayed on since selling Noosa to Boston-based Advent International in late 2014. Sales have since surpassed $100 million and her wildest dreams, and the Australian native remains a key part of innovation for the Bellevue-based company known for its creamy fruit-flavored whole milk yogurts

“As long as I’m involved, we will stay true to who we really are,” Thomae pledged in her thick Aussie accent. “That’s making really bloody delicious yogurt.”

She continues to test out new flavor combinations in her home kitchen, still living in the same Boulder residence where she started the company as a side job in 2010 — although the former orange shag carpeting is gone among numerous remodeling updates. Her stainless steel fridge is full of different Noosa varieties.

When crafting new flavors, Thomae looks for inspiration during trips to the grocery store, browsing each aisle to the annoyance of her husband Tait and the impatience of her four-year-old daughter Matilda. She stays glued to Instagram, looking for the next food industry trends.

Noosa Yogurt recently released new flavors: Pear & Cardamom Orange & Ginger, and Strawberry & Hibiscus.

In 2015, she visited London, Paris and Copenhagen, Denmark for international flavor research. The trip resulted in three new brands released at the end of last year: orange ginger, strawberry hibiscus and pear cardamom.

Food scientists convert Thomae’s vision to a commercial scale, but Noosa relies on Thomae’s palate along with other staff members instead of doing consumer testing research for new products that's typical in the industry.

“We feel we are still good barometers of what good food tastes like,” Thomae said. “I’m still not very technical, so if I don’t like something I’m very blunt.”

Thomae grew up in Queensland, Australia, but moved to the U.S. in her early 20s and eventually settled in Boulder. On a visit back home to Australia's Sunshine Coast, she discovered a local passion fruit-flavored yogurt in a corner store.

She said the experience was like biting into the perfect Palisade peach. The honey-sweetened whole milk yogurt was contrary to the low-fat dairy trend of the time and tasted unlike anything Thomae had ever tried.

“It was this revolutionary moment for me,” Thomae said. “I realized I had to eat this more than once a year.”

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She met with the Australian yogurt maker and licensed the recipe. Thomae then connected with fellow Noosa co-founder and fourth-generation dairy farmer Rob Graves via a flyer in a Boulder coffee shop.

As Graves handled the majority of production, Thomae was in charge of sales and marketing.

Noosa officially launched in 2010 with four flavors: Honey, blueberry, raspberry and mango. The duo made each flavor in five-gallon batches, hand-packaged their products and sold them at Boulder and Fort Collins farmers markets. They drew customers in with generous free sample portions.

Seven years later, the company now has 27 flavors in its public arsenal — including a passion fruit replica —  and several others in different stages of development.

“We are lucky to have pretty dedicated fans,” said Noosa brand manager Paige Bradford. “They are so passionate. They will try almost anything we put out there.”

While blueberry remains the top seller, the Noosa flavors have become increasingly more sophisticated and feature purees made of multiple ingredients.

Thomae said incorporating chocolate has been the hardest challenge. Fruit production forecasts also heavily weigh in on which new flavors can make it to market.

“I know we are all sick of the word ‘millennial,’ but they are really redefining how people eat food,” Thomae said. “They are more adventurous. Some large food companies are struggling because they are not pushing those boundaries.”

Noosa Yoghurt founder Koel Thomae demonstrates how she experiments with new flavors in her home kitchen in Boulder on Thursday, March 2, 2017.

Noosa sales grew by 70 percent last year, aided by a new line of sweet heat flavors such as mango sweet chili, raspberry habanero and pineapple jalapeno.

The company now has 150 employees and is currently undergoing a $20 million renovation. Noosa is available in more than 25,000 stores nationwide, with Target, Whole Foods and King Soopers parent company Kroger among its major accounts.

While no longer in full control of Noosa, Thomae and Graves are still heavily involved. And they they continue pushing the limits of yogurt flavors.

“A lot of entrepreneurs don’t know when to get out of their own way,” said Thomae. “(Selling) allowed us to go back to why we started the business and protect what we created.

“We can now contribute to grow the business and maintain a level of sanity.”

Follow Jacob Laxen on Twitter and Instagram @jacoblaxen.

Noosa flavors

  • Plain
  • Honey
  • Mexican chocolate
  • Salted caramel
  • Vanilla
  • Mango
  • Passion fruit
  • Pineapple
  • Coconut
  • Blood orange
  • Key lime
  • Lemon
  • Pumpkin
  • Tart cherry
  • Peach
  • Blueberry
  • Strawberry rhubarb
  • Raspberry
  • Blackberry serrano
  • Mango sweet chili
  • Raspberry habanero
  • Pineapple jalapeno
  • Cherry vanilla
  • Apple
  • Orange ginger
  • Strawberry hibiscus
  • Pear cardamom